ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a case study of an 80-year-old man who is admitted to emergency department with dysphagia to solids and liquids. This patient has a chicken bone impacted in his upper oesophagus. It may be part of a food bolus. The focus of the clinical encounter should establish the type of foreign body (FB) as sharp (fish or chicken bone, dentures) or corrosive (battery) foreign bodies in the upper aerodigestive tract require urgent surgical removal due to the risk of perforation, sepsis and mediastinitis. Signs of perforation include severe neck or chest pain, tachycardia, tachypneoa, fever and surgical emphysema. Ruling out that the FB is in the upper aerodigestive tract (above the larynx and cricopharynx) can be done by an ENT surgeon using bedside flexible naso-pharyngoscopy. The history and level of pain are not accurate determinants of the level of the FB in the oesophagus.
